The name Google is synonymous with online searches, but over the years the company has grown beyond search and now builds multiple consumer products, including software like Gmail, Chrome, Maps, Android, and hardware like the Pixel smartphones, Google Home, and Chromebooks. Its name can also be found on internet services such as Google Fi, Flights, Checkout, and Google Fiber. Here is all of the latest news about one of the most influential tech companies in the world.
Google says it has “optimized backend processing” for smart home device controls, alarms, and timers to make Gemini for Home better at the basics. Improved age-gating and content controls mean it should now be able to give you the recipe for a margarita too.
[Google Nest Community]
It’s part of One UI 8.5, rolling out now in the US after the Korean rollout began last week. Along with AirDrop compatibility, the update brings other features that launched on the Galaxy S26, including an updated Bixby, AI call screening, and easier AI image editing in Creative Studio.
Google gave Snapseed its first major update in years on iOS last June, and now the Android app is getting a big upgrade, too, 9to5Google reports. Both apps are now on version 4.0.
Google says it’s rolling out a feature for its Help me write tool that lets it generate emails personalized to your tone and style. Depending on your prompt, Help me write can also pull in relevant context from Google Drive and Gmail.
Samsung’s updated take on Android first appeared on its S26 phones back in February, but it’s taken until now to reach older hardware. Flagship phones and tablets from the last two generations or so are the first eligible for the update, which is rolling out now in Korea, with other countries to follow.
Android ecosystem president Sameer Samat shut down what may have been a joke about a potential Apple-like design language for the platform.
Google will show off what’s actually coming to Android next week during The Android Show: I/O Edition, which premieres on May 12th at 1PM ET.
As spotted by 9to5Google, Fitbit posted a few teaser photos on Tuesday with the caption “Buckle up. 5.7.26.” The images don’t give away much, but the zoomed-in shots of a fabric band and metal buckle match earlier glimpses of the rumored screen-free “Fitbit Air.”
The minority investment is “in the millions” of dollars, the CEO of the newly independent and rebranded Fenris Creations told Bloomberg.
As part of a “research partnership,” DeepMind will “work with an offline version of EVE Online running on a local server to test and evaluate models in a controlled setting,” according to a blog post. The two companies will also “explore new gameplay experiences enabled by these technologies.”
For times when you don’t need a website to know exactly where you are (like when checking the weather versus finding the closest ATM) Google is introducing the option to only share your approximate location. It will launch for Chrome on Android first, but expand to the desktop browser in the coming months.
The next edition will take place on May 12th at 1PM ET. The link for the livestream is already up, and Google is promising that “This is going to be one of the biggest years for Android yet.”
Google I/O kicks off a week later, on May 19th.
DeepMind’s Demis Hassabis was a constant figure of fear among Musk and other OpenAI higher-ups.
9to5Google points out this Reddit post from someone seeing the updated design that’s already live on the Gemini macOS app showing up on iOS. It features a gradient color background, a pill-shaped prompt box, and a simplified UI that moves all the extra prompt options, like adding images or switching to Canvas, under a single “+” button.
Launched last year, Preferred Sources allows you to customize the outlets you see the most often in Google Search’s “top stories” section. Now, this feature is available in “all supported languages globally,” according to Google.
Users in the US have been able to shrink YouTube videos while they access other apps for some time now, but now Google is expanding the feature to more regions in the coming months. It’s only available for long-form, non-music content on Android and iOS.
The Financial Times reports Alphabet’s president of global affairs, Kent Walker, responded to employee opposition to the deal Google signed with the Pentagon in a memo on Tuesday, saying, “Staying engaged with governments, including on national security, will help democracies benefit from responsible technologies.”
Users can now generate and download files directly in Gemini without needing work-arounds like telling it to export to Google Docs first. Google says the feature is available to all Gemini users and is ready to create files in Workspace apps (Drive / Docs / Sheets) or “.pdf, .docx, .xlsx, .csv, LaTeX, Plain Text (TXT), Rich Text Format (RTF) and Markdown (MD).”
Their new Next Wave Fund will reward select entrepreneurs and small businesses (with fewer than 20 full-time employees) with a $10,000 pledge towards a crowdfunded technology or digital gaming-focused project. Recipients will also receive guidance from Kickstarter, training from Google, and “opportunities for marketing exposure and promotion.”
All the ad people I know keep saying “the content is the targeting” lately, and now I know why: Google and Meta are using AI to flip the online ad model upside down. Big dive in the NYT:
But the real business breakthroughs have come from targeting. It used to be that an advertiser would say, for example, “I want to target women in New York between the ages of 24 and 35.” Now it’s the opposite: Meta and Google are using A.I. to recommend customers the brands should be going after.
[The New York Times]
That’s the title of a paper that 404 Media reports was recently published by Alexander Lerchner, a Senior Staff Scientist at Google DeepMind. Regardless of grand pronouncements from folks, including DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis, about AGI’s potential, the paper states that “phenomenal consciousness” is a physical state, and “not a software artifact that can be accidentally or deliberately created.”
After 404 reached out for comment, the DeepMind letterhead was removed, and a disclaimer about it representing the author’s “personal views” was moved to the top.
